Jay Craven’s “Lost Nation” braids together two complex stories about the quest for justice during the American Revolution. Craven is a frequent visitor to the Vineyard and will hold a Q-an-A after the screening at the M.V. Film Center on August 6.
He first sets the scene for the larger narrative. Words on the screen explain that the territory today known as Vermont was fiercely contested, claimed by both New York and New Hampshire. Ethan Allen, holding land titles from New Hampshire, fought against New York officials over their claims. Allen came with a military past, having led his Green Mountain Boys to the first offensive victory of the American Revolution by taking Fort Ticonderoga from the British.
However, the first characters we encounter are not those on the grand, historical stage, but just as real: Lucy Terry Prince (Eva Ndachi) and her husband, Abijah (Matt Orduna). Both had been enslaved since childhood, but Abijah, now free, is arranging for Lucy’s freedom. Lucy, enslaved for 30 years starting as a young child in Massachusetts, wrote the poem “Bars Fight.” Bars was a colonial term for meadow, and the poem narrates a 1746 raid in Deerfield where French-allied indigenous fighters attacked white settlers. This poem is considered the oldest known piece of literature by an African American.
Lucy, Abijah, and their children establish a homestead in Guilford, Vt., the disputed territory between New Hampshire and New York. Almost immediately the Princes’ nemesis, John Noyes (Rob Campbell), an ambitious Guilford politician aligned with New York, appears threateningly on the scene. As the film unfolds we watch in horror as he pressures and ultimately terrorizes the Princes to force them out and seize their land.
The tale of Lucy’s fight for their homestead and against racial persecution, which she brings to the governor’s Supreme Council, weaves in and out of Ethan Allen’s complex pursuits. Where Lucy is collected, quiet, yet strong, Allen is all fire. He thirsts for military glory, including a doomed attack on British forces in Montreal and invasions with his Green Mountain Boys of the New York stronghold of Guilford. At the heart of every entanglement with allies, enemies, and family is his resolve to secure Vermont’s sovereignty.
In one scene before the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Allen orates, “The fight against feudal lords in New York is what this American Revolution purports to be, so that poor settlers can build homesteads, raise families. I call upon you to validate our land claims, admit us as a state, and follow our example by ending slavery, granting suffrage to non-land-owning men, and establishing free public education … If Congress refuses to acknowledge Vermont, Vermont will refuse to acknowledge Congress.”
There is no recorded history of Prince and Allen meeting, but in the film their paths cross when Prince sees Allen rounding up a group of American traitors during his invasion of Guilford, less than a quarter-mile from where Lucy lived. Craven explained, “With guns going off and riotous sounds taking place, and 250 soldiers going house to house, why wouldn’t Lucy have known?” However, it made sense to Craven to tell their journeys simultaneously. “Both of their stories resonated as a quest for land and freedom,” he told The Times. “And they both faced conflict in what they sought to do. Also, very little has been done on formerly enslaved people in New England and I found that interesting.”
“Lost Nation,” much of which was filmed on Nantucket, was produced through Craven’s Kingdom County Productions’ Semester Cinema program. Forty-five students from 12 colleges collaborated with 30 professional filmmaker mentors on various aspects including research, script development, prop and costume organization, acting, and post-production work. “I knew this would be rich material for students to dig into,” said Craven.
The film is a work of historical fiction, but he conducted extensive research before co-writing the script with Elena Greenlee. He said, “Every dramatic beat is specifically inspired by research. I say ‘inspired’ because it allows the audience to use their imagination … When it comes to Lucy, if you wanted to do research on women or people of color in New England during this era, you would find very little. But there are court records, so we do know she went to the Governor’s Supreme Council.”
Craven continues, “In digging into the research on Ethan Allen, we saw how he tended to exaggerate his heroic tale. He was very legacy-conscious. Ethan wanted to project himself onto the largest stage he could as a great man of the times. We know he was impetuous and reckless, and those are some of the things we wanted to instill into his character, because he is a one-dimensional, mythic figure in Vermont and we wanted to explore that in a little more depth.”
“Lost Nation” opens with a quote by Alice Walker: “All history is current.” Craven reflected, “I think you can examine the Ethan Allen character and politics of the time in the context that is happening now in some ways — the turbulence and disturbance that existed in these communities where people were turning against each other because of their political affiliations. We want people to be entertained by the film but also want them to think and talk about it.”
“Lost Nation” screens on Wednesday, August 6 at 7:30 pm, followed by a discussion with director Jay Craven. For tickets and information visit mvfilmsociety.com.